Method of planting.



T. W. HCKS.

METHOD 0F PLANUNG.

APPucATmN man 1AN.I5.1917.

LQQS l Patented May 15, 1917.

UNiTED siairns lorries.

THQMAS W. HICKS, OFMINNEAEOLS, MINNESOTA.

METHOD or mauritius.

Specification of Letters Patent.

A191i?. Serial No. )$2,566.

To all floh-om t may concern:

Be it known that I, Tiioiias W. HICKS, a

citizen 4of the United States, and a resident This invention relatesytoa method of 'preparing ground and introducing seed therein,

and, if desired, also introducing fertilizer into the prepared ground in such a manner` as to give the-seed thevmost advantageous arrangement of soil for its growth.

Fori an ideal condition ofsoil to receive seed, the soilshould be worked in some manner so as to be in a finely pulverized condition, and in most crops the granules of the 'pulve'rized soil sliouldbe smaller at the bottoni, or root section of the seed bed and increase 1n size to the top, or surface section. The sub-soil, or undersurface from which the' soil was removed before itis again deposit-ed, should also be puuctured or scored so as to give a more intimate relation be tween the root section and the sub-soil, in-

crease the surface of contact between the pulrifrized soil. and the sub-soil and allow inolsture to pass more readily through the surface of contact.

The seed should be deposited -in the prepared bed at a uniform depth w'lietlier it .is sown broadcast or in the manner in which itis at the present time planted by drills.

. Fertilizer should be applied to the soil, either distributed unifornilythrough the soil ''ir'leposited ina layer, or-layers a certain depth above or below the seed or a combination of these methods, the .root section should be packed and tlie remainder of the soil then deposited on the packed root section.

I liave'conceived a new method of planting seed to make idea-l conditions, the method consisting of a certain sequence of operations which may be departed from more or less within the limit of this invention and this specification is a divisional of my fio-pending application for method of preparing' seed beds, Serial #116147, filed August 21, 1916.

In my (fo-pending application of even date for improvements in planters, l have def scribed and claimed certain n'iec-lianisni that will perform the functions described in this application, but this application has to do only with the method of planting the seed and does not contemplate any particular typeofmachine or machines. r

To illustrate the method to be hereinafter "claimed reference is Ahad to the drawing .claimed .in my co-pending :application hereinbefo're cited. Fig. 2 is a side elevation of the same. Fig. `3 is a section taken on the raieaiea May 1.3, reir. Original application tiled August 2l, 1916, Serial hie. M6349?. Divided and this application led January 15,

'which accompanies and forms a part Ofthis specification in which Figure 1 is a plan View of one .type of tiller described and .eol

line A A, Fig.' 2, and Figs. 4, 5, 6, and 7 are l views of various types of rotors used in varying 'soil conditions.

The tiller may be drawn by any suitable Source of power, and the plow share 1 lifts' a'certain depth of soil and with the mold board 2 turns this soil onto the rotor 3 which is driven at a comparatively high velocity.

Thel soil is pulverized bythe rotor and guided by the shield 4, is deposited on the screen 5 at the forward end 6.

The rear end of the screen 5 is supported by an eccentrically mounted wheel 7 so as to agitate the screen, and the soil 'deposited on the end .6 is thus worked backwardly toward the end 8.

The ies-uu, the son is iifiea bythe plowv share broken into granules, the smaller sizes of granules falling from the forward end of the screen and the larger sizesfrom the back end of the screen so th'e small size granules will be Acovered bythe large sized granules as the machine is drawn forwardly.

A pronged roller 9 serves to puncture the subsoil before the pulverized dirt falls back thereon, a hopper 10 deposits seed therein,

either in rows as a drill would do, or broade cast, a certain amount oft-soil is deposited between the feeding mechanism 11 ofthe hopper 10 and the feedingv l,mechanism 12 of the hopper 1&wliiph is adapted to deposit suitable fe'rtiliZer'on, the soil dosited over the planted seedj".

A Weighted'rolle 14 packs the?.l 'got section and the remainder of the pulver'ilxdsoil drops through the coarser ineshesqo'jit the screen and the completed seed bed is 'pa'eked by theV weighted roller 15.

The different. types of rot-ors shown Figsyll to 7 inclusive, are utilized'ln soils of various conditions and tend to, in themselves, distributersoil in different sizes of iir granulesso that this method can actuall)v be worked without the use of the screen By increasing the-number of hopper-s and changing their position, I am able to place the seed either sown broadcast or drilled at an)v desired depth and arrange the layers of fertilizer in any desired relation with the planted seed.

While I havedescribed my invention and illustrated it in one particular rin7 I do not wish' myself to be understood as confining myselfI to this particular method, as it is evident that my invention may be. embodied in various ways and different constructions within the scope `of the following claims.

(`laims:

1. The method of Seed planting comprising,r the lifting and pulverizing of a portion ot' the soil, returning the pulverized soil to t-hesuh-soilin a shower and introducing' ,seed during the act of the return of the lsoil to the sub-soil in a plane intermediate of the plane of the sub-soil and the upper surface of the completed seed bed.`

Q. The method of seed planting, comprising the liftingof a portion of the soil,` pulverizing the soil so lifted, returning,r the pnlverized Soil to the suhsoil and introducing seed into the pulverized soil during the act of its being returned to the subsoil.

The method of seed planting. comprising the lifting and pulverizing of a portion of the soil, returning the pulverized `soil tothe subsoil so that the liner granules are deposited on the .subsoil forming a yroot hed, introducing seed onto the surface oi' the root hedand covering the seeded root hed with the remainder of the pulverized soil.

4. The 'method of seed planting, comprising the lifting and pulverizing of a portion.

of the soil, piuictm'ing or scoring the subaoikfreturnmg' the finer granules onto the punctured or scored suhsoil forming a root bedthereen, introducing seed on to the root hed so formed` and "eturning the remainder of the pulrerized soil onto the seeded root tilizer with the remainder of the pulrerized soil.Y

G. The method of seed planting, comprising the lifting and-pulverizing of a portion of the soil, returning the liner granules of the soil so pnlverized onto the subsoil forming a root hed thereon, introducing seed onto' the root bed so formed and returning the larger granules of p ulverized soil onto the top of the seeded root bed.

7. The method of seed planting, co'mprising the lifting and pulverizing of a portion of the Soil.y returning,r onto the suhsoil the liner granules of pulvcrized soil formingA thereby a root hed, introducing seed onto the root hed' so formed. packing the root hed so formed and covering the packed and seeded root he'd with the remainder of the pnlverized soil.

8. The method of seed planting,comprising the lifting and pulvcrizing of a portion of the soil, puncturing or scoring the sul soil, depositing back onto the punctured suhsoil the nei; granules of the pulverized soil, introducing into the lliner granules a fertilizer, depositing seed onto the root hed thus formed, packing;r the said root bed and covering the packed and seeded root bed .with the remainder of the pulverized soil.y

. THOMAS Wi' HICKS. 

